In Re Eagen

814 A.2d 304, 2002 Pa. Jud. Disc. LEXIS 3, 2002 WL 31962257
CourtCourt of Judicial Discipline of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 19, 2002
Docket4 JD 01
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 814 A.2d 304 (In Re Eagen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Judicial Discipline of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Eagen, 814 A.2d 304, 2002 Pa. Jud. Disc. LEXIS 3, 2002 WL 31962257 (cjdpa 2002).

Opinion

LEADBETTER, Judge.

I.INTRODUCTION

The Judicial Conduct Board (“Board”) filed a Complaint with this Court on November 13, 2001 against former Judge Francis P. Eagen (“Respondent”). The Complaint recites that Respondent was the subject of a twelve count criminal information in Lackawanna County in which he was charged with violation of a number of sections of the Crimes Code of Pennsylvania; that Respondent was found guilty of “Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function,” 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 5101, set out in Count No. 9 of this information, and was found not guilty of all other charges. The Complaint further recites the conduct upon which Count No. 9 was based and that this conduct constitutes a misdemeanor; that all direct appeals have been exhausted and that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Respondent’s Petition for Allowance of Appeal.

The Board has charged that the conduct set out in Count No. 9 of the criminal information and Respondent’s conviction thereof subjects him to discipline under Article V, § 18(d)(1) of the Pennsylvania Constitution for the following reasons:

1. The conduct is such that brings the judicial office into disrepute (Count 1),
2. the conduct is such that is prejudicial to the administration of justice (Count 2),
3. the conduct constitutes misconduct in office (Count 3),
*305 4. the conduct constitutes a violation of Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct (Count 4), and
5. the conduct constitutes a violation of Article V, § 17(b) of the Pennsylvania Constitution (Count 7).

The Board also charges that Respondent is subject to discipline under Article V, § 18(d)(1) of the Pennsylvania Constitution because:

1. he has been convicted of an infamous crime (Count 5), and
2. he has been convicted of misbehavior in office by a Court (Count 6).

The Board and the Respondent have submitted stipulations of fact in lieu of trial under C.J.D.R.P. No. 502(D)(1), and a waiver of trial. The Court hereby accepts these stipulations of fact in pertinent part, recited below, as the facts necessary for disposition of this case.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Respondent commenced his service as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Forty-fifth Judicial District, Lacka-wanna County, on or about January 1988. At the Respondent’s request, President Judge James J. Walsh placed the Respondent on administrative leave on September 22, 1997. The Respondent continuously held the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Forty-fifth Judicial District, Lackawanna County, until January 4, 1998, when his term ended after an unsuccessful bid for re-election.

2. On or about January 21, 1999, at docket 98 CR 2398, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General filed a twelve-count criminal information against the Respondent in the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County. A true and correct certified copy of the criminal information is attached to the stipulations as Board’s Exhibit No. 1.

3. On or about October 12, 1999, the Respondent proceeded to a jury trial presided over by the Honorable Senior Judge Barry Feudale.

4. On or about October 20, 1999, a jury found the Respondent guilty of Count 9 of the criminal information, Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function,' 18 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 5101, a misdemeanor of the second degree, such count reading from the criminal information as follows:

Count 9: Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5101 — M2.
The defendant intentionally obstructed, impaired or perverted the administration of law or other governmental function by breaching his official duties and/or engaging in other unlawful acts, to wit: during the time period of February, 1996, through September, 1997, defendant engaged in a course of conduct designed to affirmatively interfere with a Grand Jury criminal investigation, which conduct included: engaging in conduct which constituted the commission of the crimes of Unsworn Falsification to Authorities and False Reports to Law Enforcement Authorities, as more specifically described in Counts 1 and 2 of this Information; knowingly making false statements and failing to provide pertinent information to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an interview on or about April 2, 1996 inside defendant’s office; giving instructions and making statements to co-conspirator Philip Bosha, in telephone conversations on or about February 6, 1996, and during April and May, 1996, and in a personal encounter inside the Linden News Store sometime during the Fall of 1996, which commanded and/or encouraged Bosha not to provide information to, and/or cooperate with investí- *306 gators, which included an instruction to Bosha to keep his mouth shut, and a suggestion that Bosha commit suicide; and, on numerous and various occasions, between February, 1996, and September 1997, at various locations within the Lackawanna County Courthouse, and in Nay Aug Park, soliciting the disclosure of confidential Grand Jury information, transcripts and documents from, and/or attempting to influence decisions of, prosecutors Michael Barrasse, Andrew Jarbola, Kathleen Granaban, Michael Brier, and Robert O’Hara, all of which conduct was a breach of defendant’s official duties, and violative of the Code of Judicial Conduct, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, and the Investigating Grand Jury Act.

A true and correct certified copy of the jury verdict slip finding the Respondent guilty of Count 9 charging Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function, is attached to the stipulations as Board’s Exhibit No. 2.

5. On or about December 13, 1999, Senior Judge Feudale sentenced the Respondent to two (2) years unsupervised probation and imposed a fine of $5,000.00. A true and correct certified copy of the sentencing order and the sentencing hearing transcript are attached to the stipulations as Board’s Exhibit No. 3A and 3B respectively.

6. On or about March 27, 2000, the Respondent filed a timely Notice of Appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania at docket 753 MDA 2000.

7. On or about November 30, 2000, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, by Memorandum Opinion, affirmed the Judgment of Sentence for Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function. A true and correct certified copy of the Memorandum Opinion of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania is attached to the stipulations as Board’s Exhibit No. 4.

8. On or about December 29, 2002, the Respondent timely filed a Petition for Allowance of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at docket 1930 MAL 2000.

9. On or about June 26, 2001, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a per curiam order denying the Petition for Allowance of Appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
814 A.2d 304, 2002 Pa. Jud. Disc. LEXIS 3, 2002 WL 31962257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-eagen-cjdpa-2002.